We interrupt our regularly scheduled program...: The President, the public, and the selling of foreign policy in the age of television

Television has transformed the President's "bully pulpit" into an instrument of mass persuasion. Televised addresses directly reach audiences of around 50 million people and millions more through word of mouth and media accounts. The President often uses these presentations to sell policy to the public. If successful, the convergence of public opinion and presidential initiative creates a powerful combination of stimuli on Congress. Public reaction to these speeches vary, some speeches are met with increased support for the policy discussed, others are not so fortunate. The differing levels of public reaction to these speeches, especially those on foreign policy, are the focus of this work. A time series analysis of the relationship between speeches and an aggregate measure of the public's assessment of the most important problem facing the country and a before/after survey design evaluating the effect of two of Ronald Reagan's speeches on public support for his policies in Lebanon, Grenada, and Nicaragua are used. The analysis suggests that the success of these speeches are due to a combination of factors including the amount of control the President has on the flow of information regarding the policy and the manner in which the outcome of the policy is framed. Within this context, these speeches are correlated with increased public attention to foreign policy and increased support for the President's decisions.